On the Dark Side of Eclipse – What To Do When the Escapist Mind Candy Just Doesn’t Taste Sweet?
Feeling footloose and a bit depressed tonight, the night after seeing Twilight Saga Eclipse. Such a very unsatisfying dose of Pattinson! (It occurs to me that perhaps there is no such thing as a satisfying dose of Pattinson.) But really, in this last movie, he is not so much the vampire as the “Man”, not as in THE man, or macho man, or, even delectable or wonderful man, but as in guard guy, grim reaper, stern authority figure, nay-sayer. (On top of that, he always seems to have a head-ache.)
One thing that the overly-stressed do not need more of is the Man. With a head-ache.
It’s especially unfortunate because one quality Pattinson seems to genuinely emanate in real life is a fairly generous self-deprecating sense of humor. But there’s very little humor allowed him here. A touch of snideness maybe. No generosity.
In the meantime, Lautner—ugh. (Sorry, Team Jacob.) He seems like a friend of your son’s or brother’s who comes in and cleans out the fridge. (Through consumption not Ajax.) When I see him I just think about having to wash someone’s gym clothes. I’m sure he’s a sweet person–he comes across as a sweet enough person–but talk about luck.
What makes some people successful and others not? Being in the right time and place? The ability to bulk up? (I hope not.)
In any case, I’ve just about given up on Twilight franchise for secret (or not so secret) escapism. This, I’m afraid, puts me at a bit of a loss on the pop culture/vampire or other superish male/female hero front. Especially since I haven’t been able to make myself watch a single full True Blood episode; I don’t think I could stomach one of the Steig Larrson films; and I somehow doubt that Horatio Hornblower is going to catch on.
What to do when the mind candy just isn’t very sweet? Will I have to write my own? (It just might be easier to bulk up.)
Explore posts in the same categories: Robert Pattinson, StressTags: bulking up, depressed after Twilight Eclipse, escapist fare, manicddaily, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner-ugh, Twilight Eclipse
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ManicDDaily 
July 1, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Family Feldman Emison recommends Doctor Who.
Particular seasons 2-4 of the current revival,
during which David Tennant played The Doctor.
I don’t have the equipment to judge, but the
reactions of the female contingent of my cohort
suggests that a dose of Tennant might relieve your Pattinson addiction, or at least give the guy some competition. The same females love Tennant as much “off-stage” and on. (Scare quotes on “off-stage” since it may merely mean “playing himself.”) He got rave reviews recently playing Hamlet to sell-out crowds (now on DVD). And he’s old enough that you could, provided that you wanted to, dispense with the “the feelings are strictly maternal” disclaimer. It’s still mind candy, but I think Russell T. Davies, who wrote those seasons, ranks as a certified as a certified genius. (Starting with the current season, Davies passed the baton to Steven Moffat, equally ingenious but possessed of a less operatic sensibility. For the twistiness of Moffat’s plots,
think Joss Whedon on fast forward – but peppered with great humor. But David Tennant is gone…)
July 1, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Ha. Thanks for the suggestion. I don’t really watch tv stuff much, but I’ll keep it in mind. I am pretty loyal though (meaning that I probably won’t give up on Rob just yet.)
July 1, 2010 at 11:53 pm
P.S. – After all, it’s easy to be loyal when your feelings are strictly maternal.
July 2, 2010 at 4:14 am
It would be an understatement to say we also don’t watch much tv – indeed we’ve never even owned a television set. But then there’s, computers, the internet and the convergence of technologies. So we cherry pick. And I would say on that basis that the BBC must share the world “television” with the American networks seems a great injustice. While I have seen some American television that I enjoy and admire, even at its best it seems compromised by commercial pressures. For example, on the recommendation of some otherwise bookish friends, I followed Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. The upside: very complex story, with wrenching unpredictable twists. The downside: now I’m not squeamish about sex and violence, but to say that the levels of such in this show were gratuitous misses the point – it’s like the writers had to meet some kind of quota to satisfy the suits at the network. No matter how much talent and skill, in the states you always sense the presence of the suits. (And likewise the narrative is always organized around the slots for commercials.)